My grandmother has died

Post by **fgalkin** » 2007-01-11 11:02pm

Or, rather, I should say, she was killed by medical malpractice. Three weeks ago, she went in for leg surgery, where her arteries were unclogged, and stents were inserted to keep them open. The alternative was amputating the leg, since it was no longer recieving enough blood. The surgery went well, however, a week later, she came down from a serious blood infection. She was rushed to the hospital, where her heart stopped for over 25 minutes. She had spent the following two weeks in a coma. She was breathing on her own, and they have managed to knock her fever down. On Tuesday, she even opened her eyes. Then, her heart stopped again, and and she stopped breathing. She passed away that night.

The worst thing about this is that at 82, she was still going strong and had no intention of giving up on life. They have saved her leg, and she was making all sorts of plans for the future. Then this happens. So damn infuriating. We were always so close, too.

The funeral is scheduled for Sunday. She will be cremated, and her ashes taken to St. Petersburg, where her husband and her son are buried, as she wished to.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2007-01-11 11:04pm

Sincere condolences.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2007-01-11 11:04pm

Yikes, sorry to hear that Galkin.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2007-01-11 11:04pm

I'm sorry for your loss. You said medical malpractice?

Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba · Post by **Nieztchean Uber-Amoeba** » 2007-01-11 11:08pm

My sincere condolences.

Post by **fgalkin** » 2007-01-11 11:10pm

Stofsk wrote:I'm sorry for your loss. You said medical malpractice?

It seems like it, certainly. It seems that her infection was caused by stents inserted into her arteries. Also, one of them was not a modern drug-coated stent, but an older metal one, the production of which has been discontinued for some years now. The hospital says they never found out the cause of the infection, but it is the same hospital that performed the surgery, and they are surprisingly evasive in their answers. Also, consider the fact that over 250,000 people a year contract infections from catheterers alone (another possible cause). I personally believe that this is one of these cases.

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2007-01-11 11:15pm

My sincerest condolences on your loss, fgalkin.

Elheru Aran · Post by **Elheru Aran** » 2007-01-11 11:16pm

Likewise, sincere condolences. And if the cause of death is found to be malpractice, give 'em hell from all of us.

kheegster · Post by **kheegster** » 2007-01-11 11:26pm

My sincere condolences. For her to survive Hitler and the Great Patriotic War, only to go in this manner must be very distressing.

Tasoth · Post by **Tasoth** » 2007-01-11 11:50pm

My condolences to your family.

Darth Servo · Post by **Darth Servo** » 2007-01-11 11:52pm

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Wish there was a way to prove the cause of the infection.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-01-12 12:11am

I'm sorry to hear that.

General Brock · Post by **General Brock** » 2007-01-12 12:19am

I'm sorry for your loss. It is good her last years were still full and held promise for the future.

ArmorPierce · Post by **ArmorPierce** » 2007-01-12 12:41am

Sorry to hear. My own grandmother should be following pretty soon, she's dying of cancer and they gave up on the chemo.

Zor · Post by **Zor** » 2007-01-12 12:52am

My grandmother died earlier this year, you have my deep sympathies.

Zor

18-Till-I-Die · Post by **18-Till-I-Die** » 2007-01-12 12:59am

You have my sympathies. I hope if there was any malpractice you're able to uncover it and get restitution.

Post by **Edi** » 2007-01-12 01:01am

My condolences.

Edi

loomer · Post by **loomer** » 2007-01-12 01:41am

You have my condolences.

Post by **Ghost Rider** » 2007-01-12 01:43am

Condolences on the loss.

Netko · Post by **Netko** » 2007-01-12 06:51am

My condolences on your loss.

Big Orange · Post by **Big Orange** » 2007-01-12 06:59am

Sorry there, fgalkin, lets hope something is done about that incompetent surgeon that operated on your grandmother.

rhoenix · Post by **rhoenix** » 2007-01-12 07:26am

My deepest condolances, fgalkin - my grandmother died earlier last year, and by somewhat similar circumstances. Peace be with you and yours.

GeneralTacticus · Post by **GeneralTacticus** » 2007-01-12 07:39am

My condolences

TithonusSyndrome · Post by **TithonusSyndrome** » 2007-01-12 12:20pm

As someone with a very close relationship with his own grandmother, I appreciate the nature of your loss. I'm sorry to hear this.

Eris · Post by **Eris** » 2007-01-12 01:23pm

It makes me sad to hear this, only the moreso since needless death is supposed to be what we medicos are supposed to prevent.

I wish things had turned out differently.

As an aside, given what you say about the circumstances, I'd tentatively say that you're probably spot on about what caused her death. As you mentioned blood infection from improperly sterilised equipment is much more common than it should be, and much more so if you don't have top quality nurses in charge of administering everything. It is fortunately looking like it's starting to change as we're adopting much more sanitary sterilisation methods, but I'm sorry it couldn't have happened before your grandmother's surgery.